A beautiful area, the landscape of Jura slowly ascends from the upland plateau in leaps and bounds to form the mountain border with Switzerland.

During summer many of the resorts are semi-deserted with the exception of Metabief which has become one of the biggest centres for downhill mountain bikingin France.

Wine figures largely in the Jura with a wine trail snaking through the département. Various local wines are grown, but they generally tend to be subtle variations on the Jura’s world famous “vin jaune”. The best of this (golden) yellow wine is said to come from the fortified hilltop village of Château Chalon.

The taste of the Jura wines is predominantly sweet and best described - depending on the particular wine - as a combination of various nuts and prunes with a distinctive fortified element, tasting not dissimilar to sherry. It is bottled after six years in a barrel.

Arbois, with its graceful domed church belfry of golden stone and russet coloured roof tiles, lying on the vine covered banks of the river Cuisance, is the wine centre. The wine museum is in the basement under the tourist office and the shops in the central Place de Liberté are full of tempting bottles, including the very rare vin de paille so called because the grapes are dried on beds of straw.

Salins les Bains was an important centre for salt production as well as a spa town. Open from February to November, there are guided visits of Les Salines, the salt works. It is a good idea to combine this with a visit to the royal salt works at Arc et Senans to the north west in the Doubs. The Fête du Sel takes place on the second weekend in May.

St Point

The local porcelain can be bought at Les Faïences de Salins in Rue Aristide-Briand and there is a small museum behind the shop.

A few kilometres to the north is Le Mont Poupet, where Louis Pasteur carried out some of his experiments on its summit. It is now popular with hang- and paragliders. When the weather is clear, Mont Blanc is visible to the south east.

To the south is <>Le Fort St André, one of Vauban’s fortifications. Open from June to September, there are good views of Salins from the ramparts.

The medieval capital of Franche Comté, Dole, has a very attractive historic quarter full of grey stoned houses and winding streets arranged around the 16th century collegiate church of Notre-Dame. The Sainte Chapelle has some recently restored and very fine stained glass windows and a beautiful though rather theatrically designed organ.

To the east of Dole is the ancient Forêt de Chaux, best accessed by the N5 which makes for a far more enjoyable drive than following the main roads. For an itinerary taking in some of the main natural highlights of the Jura, plan a route around the following: the waterfalls “Cascades du Hérisson", (the “Eventail Cascade” is a 10 minute walk from the carpark); the “Grottes de Baume” a cave with a wedding cake like interior, and outside, by the restaurant, a fern draped waterfall.

Capital of Comté cheese, Poligny is an ancient fortified town with some architectural gems including the collegiate church of St Hippolyte, L’Eglise de Mouthiers le Vieillard and the hotel particulier Fauquier-Bauffremont. The cheese festival, La Fête du Comté takes place in the last week of June.

	Collegiate Church, Dole

Overlooking the Mièges valley is the medieval fortified city of Nozeroy entered by La Porte de l’Horloge, a 14th century gate. A medieval festival and banquet, L’Assaut de Remparts, takes place on the last Sunday in July.

Champagnole is on the edge of the pine forest of La Joux, good for walking with marked trails around the main points of interest.

Lons-le-Saunier is the capital of Jura and a spa town since Roman times. The salt extracted from the water gave the town its name. There is an archaeology museum in the town hall and Rue du Commerce has some fine 18th century architecture.

To the south of the département, St Claude is famous for making smoking pipes. Le Musée de la Pipe et du Lapidaire combines exhibits of the local craft with lapidary, including a mock up of the British Crown Jewels. The 14th century St Pierre cathedral dominates the town. Its interior has some of the best examples of wooden sculpture by Jehan de Vitry and a fine 16th century altarpiece.

Cheese lovers should turn south and make for La Maison des Fromages du Haut Jura at Les Moussières. The cheesemaking process is carried on mostly during the morning and there is a shop on the ground floor for buying Bleu de Gex, Comté and Morbier.

Gigny is a small village east of St Amour with an abbey church, dating from the 10th century. The nearby Gorges de la Valouse are good for hiking: the round trip of seven and a half kilometres takes about two and a half hours to complete.